Akhmatova Yelena Mikhailovna
(pen-name: Zhabinkovskaya)

   Born August 12, 1961 in Belorussia, in a fishing village called Sokolovo, Zhabinka district, Brest region.
   She spent her early years in the town of Zhabinka, where she graduated from a musical school and grew fond of music, painting and literature. After graduating from secondary school Yelena Akhmatova applied for admission to Leningrad Higher Art and Industry School named after Mukhina, but the preparatory training obtained from a provincial artist proved insufficient. She passed a creative contest in 1981 and was admitted to Leningrad State University's Faculty of Journalism.
   After graduation she has worked as a journalist in a large-circulation newspaper called "On Work Duty" for a while, later she was offered a position of a literary editor in "Shipbuiding" journal. Since then she has been involved in literary editing of fiction as well as of technical literature.
   Her first serious publication was in 1989 in "Young Leningrad" anthology, under the name of Zhabinkovskaya, which she adopted after her homeland. (The name Akhmatova, immediately associated with the famous Russian poet Anna Akhmatova, is somewhat immodest for a modern Russian female poet to have.*) She has later participated in the 19th "Young Writers of the North-West" conference. Her selected poetry has been published on February 20, 1993 in "Smena" newspaper. Her first poetry book called "Snail Tear", in which she also debuted as an artist, was published the same year. Since then she has been illustrating other authors' books besides editing them.
   Yelena Akhmatova has created illustrations to more than twenty books: poetry and prose, for both adults and children. She is the author of three poetry books as of today. Her poetry has been published in such magazines as "Neva", "Smena" and "Young St. Petersburg".
   She became a member of Russia's Writers' Association in the year 2000.

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